Beit Furik, Huwwara, Za’tara (Tapuah), Thu 26.6.08, Afternoon
Natanya translating.
14.20 The gate at Marda is open. Zeita is closed and there are cement blocks.
Za'tara CP
17 cars in either direction and two manned checking areas.
Yitzhar is not manned.
14.32 Huwwara CP
Under the shed are 3 checking areas and there are many students going home for the weekend. As they come out from being checked they dress themselves again because they have taken off anything which may make the x-ray device go on. They said that at the western checking post the military policewoman, N., screams at those sorting themselves out "You have another minute to finish and clear off."
Very hot today and people are not allowed to stand in the shed but are chased off to the parking lot.
The humanitarian line is also very busy.
There is an x-ray car but no dogtrainer. No pressure of cars entering Nablus. Avital points out to me that the soldiers are standing with their rifles pointed directly at the people. The soldiers are new. (It is also obvious in their attitude towards us as they do not know what to do with us. They will soon learn).
We heard a soldier shouting at a young man from Burin that he was causing a commotion and put him into the isolation. We did not see anyone from the DCO and phoned Z., who sent T., to us.
IN the meantime we phoned the centre as well and S., answered that she could not tell us why he had been detained but we knew why as we had heard the soldier and she said he could be detained for 3 hours.
We said that this was punishment and she said she could not affirm this. All the prisoner's friends were waiting for him.
At 14.54 with T.'s intervention the man was freed.
With the help of the DCO representative a procession of cars including a bus which was escorting a bridegroom from Haris to get through the checkpoint so as to get to a village near Nablus for the henna celebration. The brother of the groom left his ID as a guaranteed and they were allowed to pass for a limited time. When we phoned later the bridegroom's brother said that they were already on their way home. He said that at Huwwara everyone had had to get out of the cars including the grandmothers and the small children. Tomorrow they would try to get a permit to get to the wedding and we hope they will be successful.
16.14 Beit Furik.
At the checking area we are glad to meet a group of 
volunteers from overseas who are coming back from a buying spree in Beit Furik where they teach English. They live in Nablus. At this hour people from Beti Furik are coming back from Nablus and one cannot see the end of the line of cars exiting. A volunteer said there were 16 cars waiting to be checked. As usual only one checking post for both directions. There is no pressure in the shed. We phoned the centre about the pressure in the car line. At the café there is now a fruit stall.
We counted 7 cars waiting to be checked at the exit of Beit Furik.
17.03 Back at Huwwara
A detained man from Yabad is very angry. 
He said that he had told his wife in Arabic
Burin/Yitzhar CPs' – Empty.
At Za'tara 3 checking posts and 30 cars in both directions.
Beit Furik checkpoint
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One of the three internal checkpoints that closed on the city of Nablus - Beit Furik to the east, Hawara to the south, Beit Iba to the west. The checkpoint is located at the junction of Roads 557 (an apartheid road that was forbidden for Palestinians), leading to the Itamar and Alon Morea settlements and Road 5487. The checkpoint was established in 2001 for pedestrians and vehicles; The opening hours were short and the transition was slow and very problematic.Allegedly, the checkpoint is intended to monitor the movement to and from Nablus of the residents of Beit Furik and Beit Dajan, being the only opening outside their villages. Since May 2009 the checkpoint is open 24 hours a day, the military presence is limited, vehicles can pass through it without inspections, except for random inspections. (Updated April 2010)
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Huwwara
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The Huwwara checkpoint is an internal checkpoint south of the city of Nablus, at the intersection of Roads 60 and 5077 (between the settlements of Bracha and Itamar). This checkpoint was one of the four permanent checkpoints that closed on Nablus (Beit Furik and Awarta checkpoints to the east and the Beit Iba checkpoint to the west). It was a pedestrian-only barrier. As MachsomWatch volunteers, we watched therre since 2001 two shifts a day - morning and noon, the thousands of Palestinians leaving Nablus and waiting for hours in queues to reach anywhere else in the West Bank, from the other side of the checkpoint the destination could only be reached by public transport. In early June 2009, as part of the easing of Palestinian traffic in the West Bank, the checkpoint was opened to vehicular traffic. The passage was free, with occasional military presence in the guard tower. Also, there were vehicle inspections from time to time. Since the massacre on 7.10.2023, the checkpoint has been closed to Palestinians.
On February 26, 2023, about 400 settlers attacked the town's residents for 5 hours and set fire to property, such as houses and cars. Disturbances occurred in response to a shooting of two Jewish residents of Har Bracha by a Palestinian Terrorist. The soldiers stationed in the town did not prevent the arson and rescued Palestinian families from their homes only after they were set on fire. No one was punished and Finance Minister Smotrich stated that "the State of Israel should wipe out Hawara." Left and center organizations organized solidarity demonstrations and support actions for the residents of Hawara.Hawara continued to be in the headlines in all the months that followed: more pogroms by the settlers, attacks by Palestinians and a massive presence of the army in the town. It amounted to a de facto curfew of commerce and life in the center of the city. On October 5, 2023, MK Zvi established a Sukkah in the center of Hawara and hundreds of settlers backed the army blocked the main road and held prayers in the heart of the town all night and the next day. On Saturday, October 7, 23 The "Swords of Iron" war began with an attack by Hamas on settlements surrounding Gaza in the face of a poor presence of the IDF. Much criticism has been made of the withdrawal of military forces from the area surrounding Gaza and their placement in the West Bank, and in the Hawara and Samaria region in particular, as a shield for the settlers who were taking over and rioting.
On November 12, 2023, the first section of the Hawara bypass road intended for Israeli traffic only was opened. In this way, the settlers can bypass the road that goes through the center of Hawara, which is the main artery for traffic from the Nablus area to Ramallah and the south of the West Bank. For the construction of the road, the Civil Administration expropriated 406 dunams of private land belonging to Palestinians from the nearby villages. The settlers are not satisfied with this at the moment, and demand to also travel through Hawara itself in order to demonstrate presence and control.(updated November 2023)
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Fathiya AkfaJun-26-2008Huwara: traffic jam on the main road
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Za'tara (Tapuah)
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Za'tara (Tapuah) Za'tara is an internal checkpoint in the heart of the West Bank, at the intersection of Road 60 and Road 505 (Trans-Samaria), east of the Tapuah settlement. This checkpoint is the "border" marked by the IDF between the north and south of the West Bank, in accordance with the policy of separation between the two parts of the West Bank that has been in place since December 2005. At the Za'tara checkpoint, there are separate routes for Israelis and Palestinians. In the route for Israelis, there are no inspections and the route for Palestinians inspects. The queue lengthens and shortens suits. The checkpoint is open 24 hours a day. The checkpoint is partially staffed and the people who pass through it are checked at random.Shoshi AnbarSep-27-2023Za'atra (Tapuah Intersection). Signs
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